PSA [Video]

[dork_of_keys]

[The video opens on a very serious looking Sora. He adjusts the camera a bit before sitting back from it a little. It's not quite clear where he is, though it seems to be outdoors somewhere. Maybe a picnic table somewhere?]

So, um... Hello. I'm Sora, for anyone I haven't met around Temple Town, and I've got something kind of important to talk about.

[He holds up what most would probably swear was a child's drawing, though it is at least clear what it's supposed to be... mostly. The image in question appears to be a Shadow.]

This... [He gives the picture a small shake for emphasis.] ...is a Heartless. This one is called a Shadow and this is probably the most common type of Heartless. They can be found pretty much anywhere Heartless are.

[He puts this first picture down and picks up another. It's another Heartless, only this one has a little bit of color to it besides its yellow eyes. It also has a distinctive emblem on it. It's a Soldier Heartless.]

There are a lot of different kinds of Heartless with different forms and abilities. Some fight with plain old fisticuffs like this one. [This picture also gets a shake for emphasis.] Others use magic and some are even skilled with weapons. All of them are dangerous.

[He pauses here, clearly thinking about something.]

Okay, there are a couple that aren't really dangerous. There are some mushroom shaped Heartless. Most of them are as dangerous as other Heartless, but the red and white ones and the blue and yellow ones just want to play games and they'll reward you for playing with them. There's also the Bulky Vendor, which looks like a capsule machine. It doesn't attack directly, but it will eventually self destruct. Still, if you can turn the crank before it self destructs, you'll get whatever it's carrying. I don't recommend it, though, unless you're really quick and even then, you're taking a risk.

[He puts the pictures away and looks into the camera, trying to look very serious. Sora being Sora, this is somehow cute, though his effort to look serious should be telling.]

Heartless are made from the darkness in people's hearts. Just about every heart has at least a little bit of darkness, so every heart could potentially make a Heartless. One way is for someone to give into their own darkness. The other way is for the Heartless to drag a heart into darkness. They will be actively trying to do this. Strong hearts or pure hearts attract them more. As for fighting them, magic and magic weapons are the most effective, but it's better to avoid them if you can. That's not... too easy, since they can go just about anywhere, but wards and charms can keep them out of a lot of places. Strong Light, the Light of the heart, can send them away too.

I just wanted to make sure everyone knew about them.

[After a thoughtful pause, he reaches up to turn the camera off, muttering something about 'nobodies' and hoping there aren't any of them lurking around as well...]

Comments

Re: Aaand [ACTION]

[dork_of_keys]

[Is Riku seriously confused about this? Sora just huffs.]

That last comment gave me the impression that you know something about how I got into that pod. Do you?

[He may or may not be pouting and if he is, he's not quite aware of it.

[More action]

[silentcoast]

[Nah, not confused. Just pretending to be. Avoidance tactic go! He slowly spells out 'maybe' and pats his pockets for a pen. He has a notebook with him, but it's not open yet.]

[More action]

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Maybe?

[And that earns flat stare. You can be infuriating sometimes, buddy.]

Re: [More action]

[silentcoast]

[But you still love hiiim. Just a little bit.

He sighs, finally finding a pen and flipping open the notebook.]

'You are were in the pod because Namine needed to fix your memories. Shes the reason you forgot what you did.'

Re: [More action]

[dork_of_keys]

[Of course. It's possible to think someone is a pain in the ass and still love them.]

Naminé?

[Wasn't that the name from the little note in Jiminy's journal?]

So, wait... someone tampered with my memories and Naminé fixed them?

[silentcoast]

'She probably tampered with them too and was fixing what she had messed up.'

[He didn't like making Naminé out to be the badguy after all she did for him, but that was closer to the truth.]

[dork_of_keys]

Probably? You're not sure?

[Really, he'd give Naminé the benefit of the doubt. If she had some reason for doing it, he wouldn't hold it against her if she had done something to his memory.]

So the time I'm missing.... Is that... what I forgot or does that have something to do with Naminé putting my memory back together?

[silentcoast]

'I dont know exactly what happened to you in the castle. And most of that year youre missing is the time you were asleep.'

[It is really weird writing 'were' instead of 'are'...to him, Sora should still be asleep.]

[dork_of_keys]

More than a year sleeping, huh? Don't ever tell Kairi. She calls me a lazy bum often enough as it is.

So... I got lost in some kind of castle, had my memory messed with and had it fixed before waking up in that mansion... Lovely. But, where you? Last I saw you...

[And he trails off here, recalling that he'd kind of left Riku in a bad way, even if Riku had agreed at the time that they hadn't had much choice. It doesn't make him feel any better about it.]

[silentcoast]

[Heh, he won't. He also won't tell Sora that he himself called Sora lazy when he found him in the pod.]

'Basically. I was in the castle as well. We just kept missing each other.'

[Well, after that, he was playing hide-and-seek with the Organization, but that's not really important.]

[dork_of_keys]

[If he did tell Sora that, it would probably just earn an eye roll.]

Oh. It guess it could have helped things if we'd met up, but... [Enter random slight change of subject here.] Huh, do you have any idea why if took so long to fix my memory?

[It kind of might be, but since Sora hasn't even the slightest hint of it, he's not going to ask about it.]

[silentcoast]

[He doesn't answer that question right away, suddenly finding the ground more interesting than the conversation for a couple seconds, then hesitating before writing as well.]

'Im not sure exactly why. I never asked Namine why. But messing around with the Organization slowed things down a lot.'

[dork_of_keys]

[Sora notices Riku's sudden interest in anything but the current conversation, but it's lost immediately at the mention of those jerks in the robes.]

The Organization? Why am I not surprised that they're involved somehow?

[silentcoast]

'Theyre mostly in the way. Im only interested in one of them.'

[Technically two, but Xion doesn't really count.]

[dork_of_keys]

They're more than just in the way, Riku. They're causing problems over all the worlds.

[And then the second part of that mention actually hits him.]

On;y one? What for?

[silentcoast]

'They must be doing more than just recon missions then.' [He pauses in writing for a second, then adds]

'The 13th member. Roxas.'

[He looks at Sora to see if he recognizes the name. He doesn't think Sora would, but Sora continues to do things that surprise him.]

[dork_of_keys]

[Oh, he knows the name all right...]

Roxas... Those jerks keep calling me by that name when they show up. Who is he?

[silentcoast]

[Shortest answer yet here.]

'Your Nobody.'

[What do you think of that, Sora?]

[dork_of_keys]

[Now here, Sora is very quiet for a moment. He's already been reminded that he was a Heartless for a while, but it hasn't occurred to him yet that their might also have been a Nobody. This is disturbing to begin with. More so finding out his Nobody had been in the Organization.]

What did you need him for?

[The thought crosses his mind that it might have had something to do with him and his memories, but he dismisses it, thinking that if that's the case, maybe Riku will tell him so.]

[silentcoast]

[Sora's thought was pretty much right on, and Riku didn't mind saying so.]

'To fix you. He was preventing Namine from finishing her work on your memories so I was supposed to go capture him.'

[dork_of_keys]

[Well this just keeps getting more and more unsettling.]

Supposed to? You mean you didn't? What happened?

[That question sparks a discomfort in him that he can't explain, but he ignores it for the moment, awaiting Riku's answer.]

[silentcoast]

[There is a slight delay, as Riku has run out of room on that particular sheet of paper. Flipping to the backside of it now.]

'I made some stupid decisions and underestimated his abilities.' [He pauses, showing Sora what he had written, waiting for Sora to read it before he turned the notebook back and continued.]

'He's the reason half of this conversation is on paper.'

[dork_of_keys]

[If Sora could have had even the slightest inkling that things like this could happen, he wouldn't have turned that Keyblade on himself. He's quiet, thinking, wondering. If Nobodies remember who they were before... he wants to ask if it was really necessary to fight, but that might imply thinking that maybe Riku was asking for what he got. Still, Nobodies want their Hearts back. Maybe...]

There wasn't a better way?

[He sounds mostly sad and maybe a bit regretful as he asks this. Who knew one action to help one friend could finds its way around to hurt another friend like this?

And there's still that something that stirred in him before when he'd asked what had happened. He can't place it for the life of him, but he thinks it's relevant somehow.]

[silentcoast]

[Riku shrugs. He wasn't planning on being violent, not until Roxas was. He thought Roxas would be more like the person he came from, and that was one bad thing. Roxas was just stronger than he had anticipated and caught him off-guard.]

'Probably. Youd have to ask him. Hes the one that attacked me.'

[He's not going to let Sora take the blame for anything related to his Nobody. It's not his fault. Not that he knows those thoughts, but still.]

[dork_of_keys]

[ Sora stays quiet for a long time this time. Maybe it isn't directly his fault Riku had gotten hurt, but Sora has made his share of mistakes.

There's a nagging thought in the back of his mind that something doesn't jive, but he can't see how. He seriously doubts Riku would lie to him about something like this.]

I'd ask where he was when you got dragged here, but something in the time lines doesn't add up. You seemed awfully surprised to see me when you got here. Were you not expecting to see me at all or what?